Roy’s has a Hawaiian thing going and the service was really good. I was introduced to a drink called the hummingbird, which had elderflower, champagne and soda water. Very light and nice.

Gales was really good Italian, with giant portions. The pasta al forni was excellent and the chicken parm looked good too, just like the photo.

My friend in Long Beach chose North End because it was central to where we were coming from, and because Guy Fieri was there last year. The burgers are a little greasy and a lot esoteric — but wow, totes worthwhile. Also huge.

Republic of Pie offers what I consider a dish of pure genius: a macaroni-and-cheese pot pie. They’re smallish, but they creep up on you and you are stuffed by the time you leave.

Now, this was all rather a departure for me, because ordinarily my first priority on the left coast is fast food heaven. In-n-Out, Jack in the Box, Del Taco and Carls Junior, in that order. I was also happy to see that Yoshinoya Beef Bowl still exists, which ranks on my second tier along with Cocos for the French silk pie, El Pollo Loco, and any hole in the wall Mexican place.

Plus, lord, the diners. Coming up PCH from the airport is absolute torture if you’re hungry; it seems like every two blocks there’s another greasy spoon and they all smell amazingly Bad for You and So Goddamn Good — grease and salt and onions, oh my. They’re pretty indistinguishable, too. One of them doesn’t even have a name, unless it’s really called “Burgers Fries Pastrami Shakes.”

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Lucien Fewell shot James Clark after he apparently ran off with Lucien's 16-year-old sister. The murder trial that followed featured two Confederate generals and a former Virginia governor. What was the verdict? (also on Amazon.com)